Solomon Islands: related links

Nickname:

The Happy Isles

Where:

Approximately 3,000 km northwest of New Zealand

Land area:

28,446 sq km including 10 major islands and almost 1,000 small islands, atolls and reefs

Population:

455,000, growing at more than 3 per cent a year

Capital:

Honiara (est. pop. 40,000) on the island of Guadalcanal

Languages:

Solomon Islands Pijin (the lingua franca), 120 local languages plus dialects, English (official language)

Government:

Constitutional monarchy, member of the Commonwealth

Currency:

Solomon Islands dollar

GDP per capita:

US$2,600 (purchasing power parity)

Main exports:

timber, fish, copra, palm oil. An Australian company is developing a gold mine but faces opposition from some local landowners.

HISTORY:

3000BC:

Believed to be the approximate time of first settlement

1568:

First European contact, by the Spanish explorer Alvaro de Mendana. Mendand discovered gold and thought he may have discovered the source of King Solomon's biblical wealth. Hence the name Solomon Islands.

1893:

Great Britain declares a protectorate over the southern Solomons

1899:

Santa Cruz islands added to the protectorate

1900:

Shortland Group islands transferred to the protectorate by a treaty with Germany

1942:

Battle of Guadalcanal

1978:

Independence from Britain

1997:

Election of Bartholomew Ulufa'alu as prime minister. He represents the Alliance for Change Party - a group which includes five parties and some independent MPs.

2000:

Townsville Peace Agreement

signed Oct 15.

MAIN PLAYERS IN THE SOLOMONS CRISIS OF 2000

Batholomew Ulufa'alu

, prime minister of Solomon Islands since 1997, leads a grouping of political parties known as the Alliance for Change Party. He is from Malaita and has enjoyed wide support for his reformist measures, particularly in impoverished rural areas. He is now held hostage by militants from his home island.

Andrew Nori

, a Malaitan lawyer, leader of the Nationalist Front for Progress political party, and a former finance minister. He has been named in some reports as the leader of the Malaita Eagle Force. His father was a leader of the postwar nationalist movement, Maasina Rule, which fought colonialism.

Ezekiel Alebua

, premier of Guadalcanal province. In early 1999 he demanded that the Government pay millions of dollars in compensation for the use of traditional land for the capital city, Honiara, and for the victims of alleged rape and murder at the hands of Malaitans.

Rangi Rangihiki

is commander of the 50-strong police assistance group trying to calm ethnic friction on Guadalcanal. He is a former district commander of the Auckland police, and has been in Brisbane recovering from surgery since before the coup attempt.

The

Isatabu Freedom Movement

, also known as the Guadalcanal Revolutionary Army, was created in 1998 to oppose the influx of Malaitans to Guadalcanal. Initially a disorganised and ill-equipped band of unemployed youts, it is now a formidable and well-armed force of up to 2000 fighters. Last year the IFM engaged in terror and violence against Malaitans, during which 55 people died and as many as 20,000 Malaitans residing on Guadalcanal fled their homes. IFM fighters currently control the area arround Honiara.

The

Malaitan Eagle Force

appeard in January of this year, and comprises young people from Malaita, an island with a warrior history. Having seen their familes flee Honiara, many returning to Malaita, the young warriors stole weapons from a police station and returned to Guadalcanal to fight the indigenous people. They seized the prime minister on June 5th, and control Honiara.

Websites:

Government of Solomon Islands

World Bank Group: Solomon Islands information